John Elway cries ‘fake news’ over AJ McCarron trade rumors

Is former Alabama star AJ McCarron about to be traded? Sources say that’s fake news.

What source? Well, none other than Hall of Fame QB John Elway, who heads up the day-to-day operations of the Denver Broncos. That just happens to be the team rumored to be on the receiving end of a potential trade for McCarron.

On Wednesday, Elway took to Twitter to shut down that talk with a definitive “fake news” message:

The root of this drama? A report from Sandy Clough of 104.3-FM in Denver which indicated the Broncos were “aggressively pursuing” a trade for the former Crimson Tide quarterback.

“Obviously, they’re somewhat disenchanted that Trevor Siemian has not taken charge of the quarterback competition and Paxton Lynch seems not to have advanced much from the problems he had in his rookie year of 2016,” Clough said, per the report.

McCarron, who is entering his fourth season with the Cincinnati Bengals after being selected by the franchise in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft, is considered one of the top backup quarterbacks in the league.

During the offseason, Nick Saban said he believed that McCarron deserved to be a starting quarterback at the NFL level after three years of serving behind Bengals QB Andy Dalton.

McCarron saw extended playing time in 2015 following a Dalton injury, but he did not attempt a pass during the 2016 season.